WASHINGTON — When the Philippines appeared to jilt its old ally the United States in favor of China this week, it repudiated not only President Obama and his “pivot” to Asia, but also Hillary Clinton, who made reaching out to the region her signature project as his secretary of state.

WASHINGTON
The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said it’s dangerous for the United States to considering sharing intelligence with a country that is so closely tied with Russia and Iran.

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C, criticized a White House directive that instructs the U.S. director of national intelligence to cooperate with Cuban intelligence counterparts. Burr said the United States would alert any country of a possible imminent terrorist threat, but he said the United States should not be providing intelligence to any country that might share it with adversaries.

MININT has under its jurisdiction the police, the Department of State Security and the Directorate for Immigration and Naturalization, among other agencies. The Central Committee of the Communist Party, on the other hand, controls all state institutions, including the media.

The U.S. government has begun a low-key cooperation with MININT, which has been present in several official dialogues, including one that took place in Miami in February of this year. Members of this ministry also visited U.S. military installations in Key West in March.

“Iran’s outrage over the issue comes just months after the Obama administration made a secret cash payment to Iran of $1.7 billion as part of what lawmakers described as a ransom payment to free American hostages.

“US Naval destroyer, the USS Mason, was patrolling in the area of the Strait of Bab el Mandeb when it was attacked by two Houthi missiles. According to the Pentagon briefing this was not merely a test or a simple misfire. It was an outright attack against a US ship that fortunately missed.

In response, the US struck three Iranian-operated radar stations in Yemen that were aiding the Houthi. ”